With fitness and weight loss becoming a priority for a huge portion of the population, there are so many new diet plans that promise to help you lose weight and stay fit.
One such diet plan is the Shangri la diet that was the brainchild of Dr Seth Roberts, a Professor of psychology at Beijing`s Tsinghua University, and Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of California at Berkeley, has become quite popular in recent years. He followed this diet for 3 months and lost 35 pounds during this period.
What is the Shangri La Diet?
The Shangri la diet doesn’t require you to make any major changes in your food habits or lifestyle, nor does it talk about including exercise alongside your diet. The only changes you need to make are to include olive oil and sugar water in your food intake.
Is it for you?
It’s perfect for those who are on a busy schedule and have difficulty in sticking to a particular diet. Or for those who have long working hours and cannot eat on time.
You will need to take 1-2 tablespoons of light olive oil in three doses throughout your day. 3 ounces of sugar water, which is made of 6 tablespoons of fructose diluted in one litre of water needs to be consumed 30 minutes before or after your meals. It doesn’t allow any foods with spices or flavour. It does recommend foods that have a low Glycemic Index.
How does the Shangri la diet work?
The Shangri la diet is based upon the set point theory. According to this theory the amount of food you consume depends on a set point of weight, below which you feel hungrier. Roberts says that the set point can be lowered by eating food that is tasteless or bland but still has calories.
In other words, the diet trains the brain to decrease the signals of hunger by introducing foods that have no flavour. On one hand, the bland food turns us off eating more, while the calories from it keep us full.
Advantages
• The Shangri la diet doesn’t require much effort
• It doesn’t restrict any food in particular neither does it demarcate any boundaries on quantity
• It is inexpensive compared to other diet plans
Disadvantages
• It doesn’t advocate exercise, which is essential for fitness
• It may be difficult to maintain weight loss when you resume consumption of regular food
• It may make a person feel deprived and that may lead to overeating under psychological stress
• It doesn’t address the psychological or metabolic factors involved in weight management
Final Verdict
Although Seth Roberts has tested this diet plan on himself and his friends, there is no clinical trial or other studies proving that this diet really helps lose weight. It also doesn’t address any nutritional issues or talk about who should abstain from this diet. Moreover, it talks only about losing weight rather than overall fitness. In our opinion, it does not seem like a healthy diet option and there are far better diet plans out there.
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